Explore the Arts

Chicago's Hubbard Street Dance returns with a mixed repertory program to include the DC premiere of Mats Ek's Casi-Casa, "the masterwork of a supremely keen observer of human behavior" (Time Out Chicago).

"Hubbard's focus on the future is a gamble worth pursuing."--The Washington Post

"When it comes to trendy, glamorous repertory, it's hard to think of an American company as well stocked as Hubbard Street."--The New York Times

Celebrating 36 years as one of the most original forces in contemporary dance, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is acclaimed for its original and innovative repertoire created by an eclectic group of the world's leading choreographers as well as its wonderfully versatile dancers. Last seen at the Kennedy Center in a sold-out 2010 performance, Hubbard Street returns with an innovative mixed repertory program.

Leading Swedish choreographer Mats Ek's 2009 work Casi-Casa, danced to a score by Swedish band Fleshquartet that slides from plaintive to poppy, and from classic to contemporary, features 11 dancers, a minimal set, and a light scattering of "ordinary" things (a door, a chair, an oven). Casi-Casa has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune, which noted "it glistens, winks, and gleams with Ek's fresh, often fun-loving movement, blending playground rough-housing with swift, beautiful dancing."

Resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo's Little mortal jump, which had audiences rising spontaneously to their feet at its world premiere last year, is "a work of enchanting dance theater that captures the mystery, humor, terror, and true romance of intimate relationships" (The Chicago Sun-Times).

Hailed by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune as "techno-cool elegance… regimented, edgy, alert," Fluence, Robyn Mineko Williams's third premiere for Hubbard Street, alludes to both formal concert dance and vernacular movement, as well as digital visual effects. The work's five men and four women can appear profoundly human and vulnerable one moment, yet in the next like neutral avatars being remotely controlled. Quick double-takes and stuttering movements suggest the entire piece itself is fighting internal glitches, disintegration, or a faulty internet connection. This East Coast premiere features costumes by fashion designer Hogan McLaughlin, music by Chicago composer Robert F. Haynes, and a stage environment conceived by Brooklyn-based lighting designer Burke Brown. Fluence received its world premiere in September 2013.

In Cerrudo's PACOPEPEPLUTO, three male dancers perform solos wearing nothing but dance belts to Dean Martin hits, "giving it something of the look of Michelangelo set to Rat Pack machismo. The first two are soaring romps…rich in circular turns, jumps and dashing Olympian form…followed by an antic, manic comic finish--the point of this Pilobolus-like etude and sure-fire audience pleaser" (The Chicago Tribune).